The present invention relates to a fishing reel of a type employing bearings on opposed sides and, more particularly, to an improvement therefor in a structure for supporting a handle shaft for driving the line-carrying spool.
A handle shaft for driving the spool of a typical fishing reel is generally hollow, and is rotatably disposed upon a fixed shaft which is secured to a supporting plate of a main body frame of the reel so as to be held on one side thereof. This hollow shaft is prevented from coming off or being displaced by means of an E-washer engaged with the tip of the fixed shaft. A handle is secured upon an outwardly projecting end of the hollow handle shaft. Furthermore a drive gear for transmitting rotation to the spool, a drag mechanism for frictionally coupling this drive gear with the hollow handle shaft and a knob for adjusting a driving force thereof are normally incorporated in the hollow shaft.
However, since handle shaft-supporting mechanisms of this type supports the handle shaft on one side thereof, its supporting strength is insufficient, and misalignment is liable to occur causing lack of parallelism with the spool shaft. Consequently, there has been the problem of engaging the drive gear on the handle shaft side with a pinion on the spool shaft side. In addition, there are other drawbacks in that the number of parts employed is substantial with production costs being relatively high as a result.
Heretofore, there has been an effort to mount the handle shaft rotatably with respect to the supporting plate and outer plate of the main body frame so as to be engaged on both sides, as disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 85241/1984. The arrangement of this type of reel is such that the axial movement of the handle shaft is restricted by there being a flange member interposed between a frictional plate and a pressing member of a drag mechanism mounted on the handle shaft for engagement with the inner surface of the outer plate.
With such a conventional manner of supporting the handle shaft, as described above, since the axial movement of the handle shaft is restricted by the flange member interposed between a frictional plate and a pressing member which constitute a drag mechanism to engage the inner surface of the outer plate, a gap is created between the flange member and the inner surface of the outer plate if a drag force-adjusting knob is operated to increase the drag force and is pressed in the direction in which the friction plate and the like are brought into pressure producing contact with the drive gear. This gap causes an increase in play which results from the axial movement of the handle shaft, and also causes a problem in the engagement of the drive gear with the pinion as well as in the engagement of a ratchet gear for preventing reverse rotation by a ratchet pawl. In particular, if the friction plate and the like becomes worn, the play in the handle shaft becomes markedly increased.
In addition, the handle shaft is simply mounted for rotation in a bore formed in the support plate without any associated means being provided for preventing the handle shaft from becoming dislodged or displaced. Consequently, the handle shaft as installed in the support plate is fundamentally in unstable condition and the installation of the drive gear, the drag mechanism, and the like onto the handle shaft is difficult with potential for undesired complications with the result that the working efficiency of the system is gravely impaired
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a fishing reel which is so constructed as to eliminate axial movement of the handle shaft during operation for enhanced, reliable efficiency. Another object of the present invention is to maintain the handle shaft on the support plate during assembly thereby assuring of proper disposition of the associated components.
To this end, the present invention provides a fishing reel of a type employing bearings on opposite sides and having a main body frame with a spool rotatably supported between two support plates of said frame by means of a spool shaft, there being a handle shaft adapted to transmit rotation to the spool through a pinion and a drive gear. The opposite ends of the handle shaft are journalled in one of said support plates and in an outer plate fixed thereto; a retaining portion being formed about the outer periphery of a support plate adjacent end portion of the handle shaft, and a locking member engaging a retaining portion for restricting axial movement of the handle shaft.